Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1165 People’s Heart
Sun Li squeezed into the crowd and came back after a long while. He leaned in and whispered, "It's that guy. He's treating the boatman."

Yuan Xi was startled, "See a doctor?"

"It's not safe for her to be in the public eye. Besides, she has just recently regained her mobility and can't stand being tired. It would be even more troublesome if she got sick. Go and persuade her to go back first."

Sun Li said in embarrassment: "I have advised her, but she said that Madam Mi had accompanied her here several times and was already familiar with the route. Besides, she felt her pulse through the curtains, so she would be fine."

"I really can't persuade him, so I can only come back and report."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi could only say, "Let her do whatever she wants. Since Madam Mi is with her, there shouldn't be any problems."

Sun Li stepped aside, and Lu Lingqi said, "I've also heard from Madam Mi that he seems to be very talented in medicine and very strong-willed. He has been treating himself for more than a year and has learned the medical skills of Mr. Yuanhua. It is said that he is much better than ordinary doctors."

"As for using her own body for injections and medication, I have not seen many women who are more cruel than her."

Yuan Xi said: "If she didn't have a strong will, she would have died countless times."

"But as for medical skills, she must have accumulated some experience before. As the queen, there are many ancient books in the palace, and she must have read them. That's why she was able to improve so quickly in such a short period of time."

"Otherwise, if she knew nothing about medicine, it would be impossible for her to achieve her current achievements in such a short period of time."

"Just like when you practiced martial arts for more than ten years but hadn't mastered it, you couldn't even beat me. But later, after you had accumulated a lot of experience and made a breakthrough, you were able to go into battle and kill the enemy, right?"

Lv Lingqi smiled and elbowed Yuan Xi, "My husband is making fun of me again. If I hadn't used those dirty tricks, why would I be in such a mess?"

Yuan Xi couldn't help but smile: "I didn't expect that seven or eight years have passed since we met. I'm almost 30 now."

"I think that person and the emperor have known each other for a long time. If it weren't for Cao Cao, maybe the two of them would have achieved something."

The two were naturally talking about Empress Fu. After Yuan Xi returned to Shouchun, he found that Empress Fu had recovered a lot during this period and was able to walk out with the carriage. Of course, this was all because Madam Mi was out managing the business.

According to Sun Li, Empress Fu probably started treating the boatmen at the dock by chance, and she seemed to enjoy it very much.

As the two were talking, they saw the boatmen on the dock each holding a piece of paper and dispersing. Although the problem seemed to have been resolved, many of them still had some worry on their faces.

After seeing this, Yuan Xi became thoughtful. He jumped off the carriage, stopped a few people and asked a few questions.

Lu Lingqi wanted to follow, but she saw Mi Zhen's carriage coming over and stopping beside her. The door opened and Madam Mi got out. Seeing that it was Lu Lingqi, she asked, "Madam Lu, are you here alone?"

Lu Lingqi pointed to the distance and said, "He came with my husband. He stopped the boatman who was holding the prescription and asked him some questions."

Empress Fu's voice came from inside the carriage, "It seems that Prince Jin is not confident in my medical skills."

"No wonder. I have lived a life of luxury and do not look like a successful doctor. It is natural for the King of Jin to worry that my medical skills are not good enough and that I have delayed the treatment of others."

Madam Mi smiled bitterly. She had been in contact with Empress Fu for a long time and knew that although she looked weak on the outside, she was actually quite opinionated in her heart. Otherwise, she would not have allowed Cao Cao to break down her defense and take action himself. Now Empress Fu felt that Yuan Xi doubted her medical skills. Although she remained reserved on the outside, there was still some dissatisfaction in her tone.

Lu Lingqi glared and thought to herself, your husband saved you, and you don’t know how to be grateful. Why are you putting on airs like a former queen?
She was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, but when she saw Mrs. Mi winking at her, she swallowed the words back, snorted coldly, and turned her head away.

After a long while, Yuan Xi finally came back. When he saw Mi Zhen's carriage, he came up and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Queen."

Empress Fu's voice rang out from the car, "Prince Jin, there is no need to be so polite."

"Prince Jin has just looked at the prescription. Is there any mistake in it?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "There is nothing wrong with the Queen's prescription."

Empress Fu was very proud. Xionghu had been very famous in recent years. With his ability, he couldn't see any problems. It seemed that she had learned the right medical skills!

But then Yuan Xi asked Mi Zhen: "Were the medicinal herbs purchased by the Mi family caravan in the past of high quality?"

Mi Zhen didn't expect Yuan Xi to ask this out of the blue. She was stunned for a moment before she said, "That's right. For the sake of my company's reputation, I focus on purchasing the best quality medicinal materials. I won't accept any inferior ones."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "I didn't think this through. I feel so sorry for them."

The three ladies could sense something was wrong. Empress Fu asked in confusion, "I don't understand. What went wrong?"

"Looking at the Prince of Jin's appearance, could it be that there is something wrong with my prescription, but I cannot speak out because I am concerned about my reputation?"

"I hope that Prince Jin will give me some advice. I don't want to be a mediocre doctor."

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "There is nothing wrong with the prescription, and there is nothing wrong with the Mi family's herbs, but putting them together may not be suitable for these boatmen."

Empress Fu was still confused, but Mi Zhen had already reacted and said, "It is indeed my fault for not thinking too much."

"I will immediately instruct the merchant fleet to take out a considerable share to purchase low-priced medicinal materials, and then sell them at the lowest cost." Empress Fu gradually figured it out. She opened her eyes wide in surprise, "Prince Jin is saying that the prescription I prescribed is wrong because those boatmen can't afford the medicinal materials?"

Lu Lingqi sneered, "Isn't this obvious? When my husband saved the queen, he used the best medicinal materials, including hundred-year-old ginseng and polygonatum, which he ate as if they were free, to save the queen."

"But all of these herbs cost a huge amount of manpower and resources to find, so the prices are extremely outrageous. Those boatmen may not be able to afford a ginseng even after working for several years."

"Could it be that the Queen treated these things as ordinary medicinal herbs and wrote them down in the prescription for the boatmen?"

"When I followed my husband on the march, the soldiers had military doctors to treat their illnesses, but when the army was short of medicinal materials, even my husband could only find some common medicinal materials on the roadside when he encountered an emergency. Could he have mobilized expensive medicinal materials?"

"Not to mention these boatmen. If this prescription costs their family's food rations for several years, I'm afraid they would rather die of illness and leave the money to their families than buy these expensive herbs to prolong their lives, right?"

Empress Fu was so upset that she stammered, "I didn't understand this and did something meaningless in vain?"

Yuan Xi comforted her: "These things happened among the people, and the queen didn't know about it, which is good."

Empress Fu shook her head and said, "No, this shouldn't be the case. This is something I should know."

"I should have thought of this. When I followed the emperor to escape, I suffered hardships and hunger, and I saw the dead bodies everywhere. How could I have forgotten all of this in just a few years?"

Her voice dropped. "As expected, I am incompetent as the queen. It is precisely because I ignored these subtle but important details that I suffered repeated setbacks in my fight against Cao Cao, right?"

"I am not as good as the King of Jin. It's ridiculous that I was so complacent just now. I am really a frog in the well."

Yuan Xi comforted her, "The Queen is still young, and I am only a few years older than her. I am gradually understanding the truths that I could not comprehend when I was young."

“The path of life is to grow through continuous learning. Reality is the best teacher. If you want to pursue the truth of the world, you can go to the court or the mountains.”

"I was able to defeat Cao Cao several times, not because I was much smarter than Cao Cao, but because I knew better what the common people wanted."

Fu Shou murmured, "Is this the reason why the emperor and his concubine failed?"

Yuan Xi sighed, "It's not that the emperor doesn't know, it's just that it's hard to do."

"In the final analysis, the fight for the world is ultimately a test of strength, an irrational process."

"I sympathize with the people, not because I am a saint, but because the power of the people can be used by me to fight against Cao Cao."

"The same is true for the emperor. What he has to do is to maintain peace in the world, but there is no absolute standard for judging right or wrong. Sometimes, what the emperor does is hard to say is right, and it may even be cruel."

"A bad man cannot be the emperor. This will cause the court to lose its moral integrity and cause rebellion everywhere."

"It is not okay to be an absolutely good person. This will lead to power being manipulated by officials with ulterior motives, and the court will be overrun with righteous people, which will bring disaster to the world."

"The emperor must grasp the power of balance. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Only in this way can there be long-term peace and stability."

Empress Fu was silent for a while, then she said, "Prince Jin's remarks are insightful. I appreciate your advice."

"Is the King of Jin saying this to prove that he is more qualified to be the emperor?"

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "In terms of the power I possess, I am indeed qualified to say this."

"Governing the world is accompanied by death and slaughter. I am prepared to be killed, but the emperor's preparedness has been almost completely castrated by Cao Cao."

Empress Fu raised her eyebrows and was about to speak out a rebuttal when she heard Yuan Xi say, "If it were me, I really couldn't defeat Cao Cao, so I would just commit suicide at the abdication ceremony, so that the Cao family would be in an illegitimate position and bear the infamy forever."

"Does the emperor have the courage to do this?"

Not to mention Empress Fu, even Madam Mi and Lu Lingqi were dumbfounded. How could such a bachelor and scoundrel have such a method?

However, this is indeed a good idea to disgust Cao Cao. If something really goes wrong, Cao Cao and even the Cao family will instantly turn from loyal ministers into rebels. Even if they can defeat all opposition forces and establish a new dynasty, they will be infamous for eternity, right?
Empress Fu became alert, "Isn't it possible that the Prince of Jin wants to hint to the Emperor through me that he should take this desperate path?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I won't go that far, because I have more choices now."

"In the eyes of the Queen, I am indeed a traitor, but in the eyes of most people in the world, at least in my territory, I believe that people do not think so."

"Whether I gain or lose the Way, I do it for the world to see. What I am doing now is actually no different from what Cao Cao did. I am also undermining the foundation of the Han Dynasty."

"But I have never concealed it, because I believe the path I am taking now is what the people of the world want."

"I don't expect the Queen to understand, but the world is now heading in two completely different directions, and it is being decided by Cao Cao and me. Does the Queen think there is any other choice?"

(End of this chapter)